Ashtabula (AO 51) - Naval Cruise Book

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him with a friendly, Hi SGVQSH- GUClm VOOY be summarized bY remembering the Cock fights' Welle' bUil0lO, sun, skV Pump Room, Elvl Club and the palm trees. Guam was left behind on T3 lvlay and we steamed towerd SOSebQ, Japan. What was to have been a peaceful yeyeee turned out to be a workinQ TOD- We had our first UNREP in WESTPAC with the mighty USS CONSTELLATION QCVA-645 on the rainy evening of lvlay l6th. The midnight to six in the morning refueling was truly indicative of the months to follow when we would provide underway fuel replenishment for members of the powerful Seventh Fleet. Following a three dey visit to Sasebo during which time Staff, COMSERVRQN THREE inspected the ship, we got underway for participation in Exercise GLASSDOOR. Chaplain Hughes ioined us for our ertaal at sea On lvlay 3Oth, Memorial Day Services were held on the cargo deck The uniform was tropical white long and the ceremony conducted by Chaplain l-lughes was ap ra priate and moving We unrepped the TICONDEROGA and her escort destroyers on two occasions Our next port of call to be Kobe Japan KCBE Kobe was perhaps the high point o our cruise was our weekend in port and everyone took advantage of the excellent liberty The Texas Tavern and the lvlisone Grill offered the best chow in town Who will ever forget the fabulous Kobe steaks? On Friday after noon a group of forty from the ASHTABULA went t see th f 19:5 Our man in Kyoto famous Takarazuka Grand Revue The show lasted over three hours had a c t o lOO tru beautiful Japanese girls lt hs to rate as the biggest bargain of the cruise a STO show for only 340 yen lvlany people also visited Kyoto the ancient capital o Japan Here we saw the second largest wooden structure in the world which ad been built over three hundred years ago lt was interesting to earn that human hair had been made into rope to lift the huge tea wood timbers in place e unmatched lvlotomachi covered arcade the Sannomiya shopping centers and other places of cultural interest in the Kobe Osaka Kyoto area all contributed to providing us with four unforgettable days e Mt FUII climbers An afterno YOKOSUKA Following our brief visit to Kobe the ASHTABULA spent a week at sea servicing Task Group 77 4 We arrived in Yokosuka for the first time on Wednesday T2 June Yoko suka holds the distinction of being the largest naval installa tion in WESTPAC and anything from a maior overhauling to the purchase of nuts and bolts may be accomplished there It also holds the reputation of being an excellent liberty pgrt Tokyo the worlds largest city is lust two ours gwgy by train The city has become so westernized in the last decade that it now resembles a large American city neon lights large department stores and wild taxi drivers on train ride from Tokyo is a never to be

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SY S . N x if if if iv ww L Buckner Bay BUCKNER BAY We orrived ot Buckner Boy, Okinowo on the lst' of July. A gunnery shoot wos conducted enroute with the services of o tow plone from NAS, Noho. The oircroft wos lucky to return home unscothed ofter being held under fire for on hour ond o holf by the ASHTABULA. For four doys we were the only ship in Buckner Boy. We coiught o glimpse of life ot Kodeno AFB ond hod o doy or two to inspect the nightclubs in Villoge 53. A beoch porty wos held ot White Beoch on the third of July. An LCU wos procured ond used to tronsport the ship's compony to the beoch oreo. Homburgers, soft drinks, ond beer were ovoiloble. The woter wos greot but the sun took it toll ond mony soilors were os red os lobsters when they reported bock on boord. We'll olwoys remember the hot ond humid weother fond the mosquitoesi of Okinowo. Following ci series of UNREPS with The CORAL SEA QCVA-43D ond her destroyers BUCHANAN, SOUTHERLAND, HANSON, ond SOMERS, the ASHTABULA returned to Yokosuko. Coptoin l-lill wos ot the northeost breokwoter of the horbor to meet us. lt wos ot this time thot our five mid- Sliipmen ioined us for their six week troining cruise. Tlie XO ond o sturdy group of mountoin climbers Chollenged lvlt. Fuii. Despite the thirty degree lemperotures, strong winds, ond thin oir ot l3,000 feel, eleven men succeeded in reoching the top- lvlldslllpmen Koplon ond Springs from the U.S. Novol Afiodemy were omong those who hod the top mCIVl4 burned in their hiking stoffs. f . ,olgollen eXpe 'e'iC9z more people ore pocked INT O CI Smoll oreo thon could be believed Egjslkle. Yokosuko is fomous for its mony frog Uotsori dedicoted to extrocting money The Black- RCHOVS- Who will ever forget Bombo 'OSS' The Popeye, ond the Club o with the friendly girlsons who beg you to bUY them colored woter ot 500 yen U' Ql0SS3 Borgoining on Thieves' Alley for gifts to send home provided o much better Wey to spend our money. We left Yoko o week loter to service TG 77.4. A mon overboord drill wos held ond Oscor. wos recovered in less thon thirteen minutes. Extremely sod news of Coptoin l-lill's son's son's deoth wos received on the 23rd of June. The ship returned to Sosebo where Coptoin l-lill left on emergency leove. We were underwoy ogoin the following doy with the executive officer os octing C. O. We continued working with the USS CONSTELLA- TION ond her destroyer group. A night in Sosebo